In celebration of National Donut Day, 17 donuts you absolutely NEED to eat

National Donut Day is Friday, June 7th, which is basically the equivalent of having another birthday. Unless your regular birthday is June 7th, in which case you've just got one donutbirthday. Wait, let's call it a Girthday. Yeah, that's it.

But, on such a momentous day, you don't want you to settle for just any donuts -- we took the liberty of rounding up the finest in all the land, right here in this handy list. Track them down and get to celebrating.

Dun-Well DoughnutsBrooklyn, NYDonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Orange-PistachioYou'd never guess from tasting this unique combo of citrus and nut that all of Dun-Well's pastries are vegan, but they are. Those tree-hugging health maniacs have infiltrated even our most sacred ground: dessert!! But once you tast these 'nuts, you'll finally like vegans. The place's also got a Cadbury Creme Egg donut that's only available at Easter, and is miraculously made without sacrificing the lives of ANY Cadbury chickens, even though that doesn't make sense.

EndgrainChicago, ILDonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Bourbon VanillaIt's never a bad thing when you've got bourbon in your dessert. Add to that a Bacon Butterscotch number and one called Nutella Milk Stout, and you've got the well-rounded meal of a rhino manly donut-fiend. Just be sure to get at least a six-pack, like we did, so you don't have to play favorites.

Doughnut DollyOakland, CADonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Hand-Filled "Naughty Cream"This place is named after the women in WWI who would bring coffee and donuts to soldiers (so THAT'S what "total war" entails!), and the woman who makes 'em injects flavors like chocolate-hazelnut, raspberry jam, and the above unmentionable delight.

Do Rite DonutsChicago, ILDonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Maple with Candied BaconLike all of Do Rite's flavors, the fellas above are lovingly made in batches of three dozen, and are technically closer to fried dough than donuts, hence the cruller-esque appearance. But hey, a donut by any other name would still smell as sweet, thanks to delicious fried cake, icing, and CANDIED FREAKING BACON. Open-faced jellies with peanut butter mousse and raspberry jam are their other, um, jam, so you should probably just get all three dozen yourself.

Union Square DonutsSomerville, MADonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Maple BaconCombine the ladies who teach you how to cook and do all sorts of DIY at City Chicks with the kombucha/ice pop cyclists at Culinary Cruisers, and you get hand-knit kombucha koozies? scrumptious small-batch donuts (duh!), like their drippingly-delicious maple bacon, hibiscus rose, or stuffed orange-ginger cream.

Donut BarSan Diego, CADonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Maple Bacon Bars"But those donuts aren't even round!", you say. "But they are delicious!", we say. "Mhhrsmwhmmna", you say, as you stuff your face with these life-altering bars. They've also got Crème Brûlée donuts that they make by caramelizing the sugar on top with a blow torch. Or, if neither of those do it for you, opt for their Chocolate Euphoria topped with chocolate curls.

Astro Doughnuts & Fried ChickenWashington, DCDonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Maple Bacon and Brooklyn BlackoutAren't they just the purtiest little things you ever did want to inhale in a gluttonous rage? The guy on the left's got a generous helping of Benton's bacon, but if you're more in the mood for "pre-owned" cutoff Beatles tees and mother-shaming haircuts, opt for that BK number on the right, with devil's food cake and cookie-crumb topping. Oh, and in case the name wasn't clear, this place also sells fried chicken.

GlazeDenver, CODonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Japanese Circular CakeOkay, so this one isn't technically a donut, but it IS a crazy Japanese cake with a bajillion layers that takes forever to make/cut/serve. This flavor is Matcha Green Tea with limoncello, and it serves 4-6 people, or just you, you insatiable fiend.

Gourdough's Public HouseAustin, TXDonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: The FreebirdThe term "donut" may have to once again be a bit flexible to include this monstrosity, but there is technically a donut underneath all that. There also happens to be cheese cake filling, cream cheese icing, graham cracker crumbles, strawberries, and blackberries. Given that the place also has a cocktail called the Grandpa's Breakfast with maple syrup, blood orange, egg white, bacon-infused bourbon, and a STICK OF BACON, it'd be un-American NOT to make the trek out to Austin to snag one of each.

GBDWashington, DCDonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Brioche with Chocolate Filling and Cocoa KrispiesSurprise! This guy's made of brioche, stuffed with a ring of chocolate, dipped in milk chocolate ganache, sprinkled with Cocoa Krispies, then drizzled with vanilla frosting, allowing you to live out those two dreams you thought were incompatible: fancy beret-wearing writer in a French cafe AND stay-at-home child living in your mom's basement and eating Cocoa Krispies out of the bag so messily that they fall out all over your donuts. Who says dreams can't come true?

Glazed and InfusedChicago, ILDonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Bar SnackM&Ms, pretzels, peanuts, potato chips... you can get practically a week's worth of junk food out of the way with a single Bar Snack donut from Glazed and Infused. They've also got banana cream cheese, a Key lime custard-stuffed (topped with graham cracker streusel!), and a bacon-maple Long John, so you've pretty much got all of your junk-food bases covered.

Peter Pan Donut & Pastry ShopBrooklyn, NYDonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Red Velvet CakeThis shop has been around since 1961, so you know this donut with cream and crumbled red velvet cake, all for $1, is totally legit (vanilla glazed with rainbow sprinkles for photo-friendly propping not included). Also, it's from Brooklyn, so you know it enjoys vintage snapbacks.

Firecakes DonutsChicago, ILDonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Coconut CreamThis small-batch 'nut shop in Chi-Town coats this coconut cream number in toasted coconut flakes and tops it with a delicious pile of coconut shavings. Or, if you need a little something extra to put out your fire, snag their blood orange with raspberry jelly, Tahitian vanilla glazed, or Nutella Long Johns (!).

Do or DineBrooklyn, NYDonut You Absolutely Need to Eat: Foie GrasThis place is known for pushing the boundaries (they've got a shot called The Spherickle Back, which is a pickle back in a crazy floating sphere), but a foie gras donut is a serious mind-blower. You may never have imagined you'd be eating a goose liver-stuffed donut, but you DEFINITELY never imagined that a goose liver-stuffed donut could be this tasty.